Shipbuilder Ecovix, units file for bankruptcy protection in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Ecovix Engevix Construções Oceánicas SA and five subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy protection in a federal commercial court, succumbing to a debt burden of 8 billion reais ($2.4 billion) and a plunge in shipbuilding.

In a statement on Friday, Ecovix said Banco Brasil Plural SA and law firm Felsberg Advogados will advise it on bankruptcy protection proceedings, which will take place in a court based in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Cash at the shipbuilder is being depleted at this point, the statement said. ($1 = 3.3845 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)